Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership

Strategy for children and young people in Tameside

Tameside's Children's Needs Framework

This year we plan to develop companion handbooks of procedures and guidance for the Local Safeguarding Children Board and for the Children and Young People Strategic Partnership Trust which will incorporate the procedures and guidance relating to systems for meeting the needs of children and young people. These handbooks will be issued for all work places/locations and will cross reference each other.

The use of the common systems referred to above will begin to break down some of the barriers that exist between organisations and help staff spend their time more effectively.

For illustrative purposes only the following version of the Children's Needs Framework shows how services are currently distributed.

There is a large group of children and young people who need some extra help but are currently not receiving services. A lot of time and energy is taken up by universal service providers trying to find other help and by children being assessed but not receiving a service at the end of the process. In contrast, children and young people with serious difficulties or complex needs have numerous adults working with them. The number of staff involved does not usually lead to correspondingly better outcomes. The services provided can also be dependent on information available to the child, family or person referring about what services exist.

We aim towards a position where appropriate services are provided at the point where they are needed and will be most effective

This will happen by

• Reducing duplication of assessments
• Continuing to develop a model of consultation so that staff in different settings can ring each other for advice not just to refer on. This should help people feel supported in carrying low level risk without the need for specialist services
• Reducing numbers of workers involved in children and young people's lives through a clearer focus on outcomes and lead professional arrangements
• Providing information through a service directory so that parents, young people and staff can find what is appropriate quickly.
• Providing information through JASPER about who else is involved with a family. This will reduce time spent phoning round or referring.
• Reducing the numbers of young people who end up in serious difficulties because they have received help at an earlier stage.